As Riku confirmed the change on his panel, he noticed the free experience points decreasing at a visible rate. At the same time, a flood of new knowledge surged into his mind. Instantly, he grasped an entirely new method of controlling chakra—something he had never experienced before.
In the dim light, Riku had completely mastered a new ninjutsu.
"Body Flicker Technique (C-rank) → Wind Body Flicker (B-rank)!"
The moment the prompt appeared, Riku felt a strange sensation. Almost instinctively, he circulated his chakra. Immediately, a faint breeze wrapped around his body. With just a thought, his figure vanished—reappearing dozens of meters away in an instant!
"This feeling… it's amazing!" he exclaimed inwardly, excitement welling in his chest. "My body feels weightless, lifted by the wind itself. There's almost no resistance when moving!"
Every motion was effortless. What had once required two or three parts of strength could now be achieved with just one. The original Body Flicker Technique—no matter how refined—was nothing compared to this.
"Is this what happens when a skill's quality evolves? Incredible!"
Riku's excitement was impossible to contain. Like a child with a new toy, he began testing the technique over and over, his movements becoming smoother and more natural each time.
Prompts continued to appear in rapid succession:
"Wind Body Flicker experience +23!"
"Wind Body Flicker experience +25!"
"..."
"Skill upgraded! Wind Body Flicker (B) Lv1 → Lv2!"
The constant flood of notifications made Riku's head spin, but the final message caught his attention.
"Hmm… a skill upgrade, huh? Let's see…"
Opening his panel, he found that the previous entry for Body Flicker Technique had been replaced by:
[Nintaijutsu · Wind Body Flicker (B): Lv2 (123 / 4000)]
Unlike his earlier breakthroughs, which had immediately raised skills to max level, the Body Flicker's evolution into Wind Body Flicker required him to accumulate experience points from scratch once again.
And it wasn't just any B-rank skill—it demanded double the experience. Each level would require a full two thousand experience points.
Still, there was some comfort in that. Thanks to the foundation of his earlier mastery of Body Flicker, Riku found that his experience accumulation rate for Wind Body Flicker was far faster than for most other techniques.
"The old Body Flicker was pure taijutsu," he mused. "But now it's transformed into a nintaijutsu. So the prefix—or rather, the skill's nature—must affect its progression after a breakthrough."
He smiled faintly. Another small piece of the system's logic had revealed itself to him.
"It makes sense. Nintaijutsu is a completely different discipline from taijutsu. Of course the proficiency would reset—but not entirely. The experience from the old skill must be feeding into this one indirectly."
Driven by curiosity, Riku began experimenting. As he continued practicing Wind Body Flicker, he noticed the experience points piling up far more quickly than before.
By noon, the skill had already reached Lv3.
Even so, Riku could tell that the accumulated foundation from his previous Body Flicker mastery hadn't been fully exhausted yet. He could likely maintain this accelerated progress until Wind Body Flicker reached Lv4.
And even now, at Lv3, the improvement was astounding. His speed had increased by nearly fifty percent compared to before the breakthrough.
Don't underestimate that number. Riku's speed had already reached the jōnin level before this. To increase that by half again was a terrifying leap in power.
At such a level, even a marginal improvement meant a world of difference. A fifty percent boost? That was the kind of gap that could determine victory in an instant.
Even most kage-level shinobi, known for their mastery of Body Flicker, couldn't boast being fifty percent faster than a jōnin. Yet Riku had achieved it already. His speed now was enough to stand on equal ground with even a kage-level opponent.
And this wasn't even the limit of the Wind Body Flicker.
After all, this was a nintaijutsu akin to the Lightning Body Flicker used by the Raikage. If the Raikage could earn the title of "Fastest Man in the Ninja World" with his Lightning Body Flicker, then Riku too could reach such heights with his Wind version.
In fact, Wind Body Flicker might even surpass it in certain ways.
In the ninja world, Wind Release naturally countered Lightning Release. By that logic, Wind Body Flicker could potentially hold an advantage over the Raikage's technique.
Riku's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"If I ran into Shisui again now, I wouldn't be suppressed by his Body Flicker Technique. If we fought again—without even relying on the Byakugan's dōjutsu pressure—I could win."
A confident grin formed on his lips.
"'Shisui of the Body Flicker'? Hah… just a minor name."
Having obtained Wind Body Flicker, Riku's confidence soared. It wasn't arrogance—speed was simply that powerful of an advantage. Against a stronger foe, speed could ensure a safe retreat. Against a weaker one, it guaranteed a swift, overwhelming victory.
The legendary "Yellow Flash" on the battlefield was the perfect example—a speed-type kage-level shinobi whose Flying Thunder God Technique had made entire nations tremble. To stop him required at least two kage-level opponents—like the A-B brothers of the Hidden Cloud.
Of course, Riku's Wind Body Flicker couldn't yet compare to the Flying Thunder God Technique. That jutsu, infused with space-time attributes, was undoubtedly A-rank or higher.
But compared to most other shinobi, Riku's speed was already overwhelming. If he ever took to the battlefield, he'd be a one-man army—a living whirlwind of death.
Yet Riku had no such intentions.
For now, he only wished to remain in Konoha and strengthen himself in secret. Until his power surpassed that of an entire village, he had no plans to "go out and play."
While Riku quietly honed his Wind Body Flicker and grinded for experience points, elsewhere, another story was unfolding.
That night, deep within Konoha, a figure moved through the darkness.
Sora—formerly of Root—had finally recovered from his injuries. It was time to carry out the mission Danzo had entrusted to him.
The streets were quiet. Most homes had long since gone dark, their inhabitants fast asleep. Only a few buildings still showed faint, lingering lights through paper screens.
A shadow stood atop a utility pole, overlooking the Hyuga Clan compound in the corner of the village. Beneath the moonlight, his expression was cold.
"The Hyuga Clan, huh…" he murmured, a sneer twisting his lips.
Then, without another sound, Sora vanished into the night.
The night was rarely peaceful. Darkness concealed too many wicked intentions—plans nurtured in shadow, waiting for the right moment to bloom.
More than half a month had passed since the conflict between Hyuga Hizashi and Danzo's Root division. Initially, the Hyuga had been on edge, wary of retaliation. But as the days stretched on without incident, vigilance faded. Their guards relaxed.
And that was exactly the opening Sora needed.
This time, he had no teammates—no support, but also no burdens. With his jōnin-level strength and mastery of the Aburame Clan's secret Insect Sealing Technique, Sora was a near-unstoppable infiltrator. If he wished, he could inflict devastating losses upon the Hyuga.
But that wasn't his goal tonight.
His mission was precise, silent, and cruelly efficient: to collect flesh and blood samples from the Hyuga ninja captured during the previous conflict.
Danzo's orders were absolute—retrieve the genetic material without revealing his identity, and without drawing too much attention.
For anyone else, the restrictions would have been crippling. But Sora was a veteran assassin, a specialist in stealth and precision. The Aburame techniques made him a ghost in the night.
Within mere hours, his operation proceeded flawlessly. Moving through the Hyuga compound like a shadow, he collected samples from nearly every target on his list—including two Hyuga jōnin.
Each name was crossed off methodically, his work silent and precise.
At last, he sealed the collected tissue samples into a storage scroll. Wiping a bead of sweat from his temple, Sora unrolled the mission list one final time to confirm.
Everything seemed complete—until his gaze fell upon one final name at the bottom.
"Hmm? One left? Hyuga Hoshimi, six years old?"
A cold smile crept across his face.
"Oh, right… I remember now. Last time, Xing and Yue tried to capture this brat and were caught by Hyuga Hizashi. That's how the mission failed."
He exhaled softly.
"What a lucky kid. But tonight, that luck runs out."
He glanced at the sky—still dark, with plenty of time before dawn.
Without another word, Sora's form dissolved into the wind. The shadows swallowed him whole as he vanished toward his final target.
The night of Konoha deepened. In that silent darkness, unseen forces moved once again.
End of Chapter 65: Wind Instant
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